3 December 2022
19:00
Celebrating Zabetas
Plastikes Karekles and Friends
An evening celebrating the music of Zabetas.
An evening celebrating the music of Zabetas. Feel good, upbeat and dancy, soulful, humorous and always poignant, he captured the hearts and minds of a nation.
Maria Tsirodimitri, voice/guitar
Manolis Taouxis, voice/bouzouki
George Tsolakis, voice/guitar
George Angelopoulos, baglama/bouzouki
Pavlos Carvalho, cello/double bass.
"Ζabetas as a composer is among the ten greatest of the rebetiko and laiko. As a bouzouki player he was the best with a very special and personal sound , but as a show man he was unique. An artist that if he was born in the States would be a world-famous artist."
- Leyteris Papadopoulos
Zabetas is one of the warmest, relatable and talented Greek musicians of all time. His catchy, melodic songs, filled with the down to earth tragedy and comedy of the human condition that anyone could relate to, made his songs part of the DNA of Greek life.
As one of the most recognized musicians in Greece he worked for many years in cinema with stars such as Aliki Vougiouklakai. He both appeared in films and wrote music for them, with songs such as “siko horepse syrtaki”. He claimed to have been influenced greatly by both Vamvaklaris and Tsitsanis, but his music is unmistakably his own and has it’s unique identity and place in Greek musical history. In many of his songs he makes references to nightingales and swallows. Zabetas himself said that he loved to go and sit in the forests listening to nightingales. There singing gave him ideas for his melodies.
First half:
19:00 - 20.10
Second half:
20:30 - 21.45
ABOUT
Plastikes Karekles is one of the foremost bands in the performance and cultivation of Greek music in the UK and abroad. Internationally they have performed at festivals in Greece, France, Italy, Scotland, Wales and Qatar. In the UK they have performed at Purcell Room, Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall, St David’s Hall as part of the Proms, as well as more intimate venues such as the Green Note, Vortex and the Forge, London. They have also performed at Kings Place, London both as part of the Rebetiko Carnival festival and Equator: Women of the World festival.
The musicians of Plastikes Karekles are also the founding members of the Rebetiko Carnival, a charity and festival with Rebetiko music at its heart and dedicated to performance, outreach and education. They take music to schools, hospitals, prisons and care homes throughout the UK.
“Plastikes Karekles represent a culture of reinvention as defiant and hopeful as the music itself.”
–Song Lines magazine
“These musicians wowed a captivated audience…they had people dancing in the aisles and evoked memories of sunnier climes”
– Nottingham Press
“Powerfully emotional, moving and involving”
- Song Lines magazine
USEFUL INFORMATION
Estimated running time
Performance times
19:00
Ticket prices
£15, £10
Concession
Full-time students, those aged under 16, senior citizens, the unwaged, members of Equity and BECTU
Access
Theatro Technis is fully wheelchair accessible. Guide dogs and hearing dogs are welcome in the auditorium. There is a Loop system fitted in the main auditorium. If you have any questions or specific requests, please email boxoffice@theatrotechnis.com.
More information to come.
